According to the Georgia government website, “The state Board of Pardons and Paroles grants paroles, pardons, reprieves, remissions and commutations. (Its members) are also responsible for restoring civil and political rights for released offenders.” It is their job to determine which ex-felons are eligible for a restoration of rights. There are statutes they must follow to faithfully carry out their mission.
Ex-felons who legally obtain their restoration of rights must follow established procedures set by state law. They must serve their sentences adjudicated by the courts and live a law-abiding life for five years before applying to obtain the rights enumerated in the state and U.S. constitutions. If all legal procedures are followed, those who do so should be granted their rights.
This is, and should be, a forgiving country. People who make mistakes should be given the opportunity to prove they have learned their lesson and changed their way of life. Not all felons are violent criminals, and some never used a firearm in a crime.
If ex-felons, violent or not, want a firearm, as usual the law will not deter them any more than the law deterred them when they committed their crimes. Ex-felons will have firearms if they want one. They are already initiated into the prison system and face no fear of returning. After all, it means they get to spend time with old friends at the taxpayer’s expense.
According to reports, anyone who has served time in our prison system has surely met and spent time with hardened criminals and, as such, has access to many criminal activities. Those who turn away from those temptations and return to a law-abiding way of life should be rewarded for doing so.
We know many criminals are armed. We hear in the media every day that a criminal who had an illegally obtained firearm has committed another crime. The criminal world has easy access to firearms as well as other illegal activities. These are ex-felons who have proven they will not abide by the law. They have continued their criminal ways and are not eligible for restoration of their rights.
To me, the question is not about the restoration of rights. I believe everyone should be given the opportunity to prove the punishment they endured left them not wanting to return to their previous way of life. We have seen many examples of people who have left lives of crime behind them and become productive members of society. I don’t believe any of us would want to deny all of them a restoration of rights. I believe they deserve the right to protect themselves should the need arise.
There are two questions I would ask.
First, is the Board of Pardon and Paroles doing its job properly? Each felon is supposed to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. If the board is not doing its job, perhaps its members should be replaced.
Second, if an ex-felon cannot be trusted with a firearm, why is he/she not still in prison? As stated previously, ex-felons who want a firearm will get one. It should be incumbent on members of the parole board to take all possible precautionary steps to ensure those they deem worthy of such rights will not be a menace to society.
Jerry Henry is executive director of GeorgiaCarry.org.
